/topics/ecology-and-environment
Ecology and Environment
Water Resources Engineering and Management - A Civil Engineering Course under the National Programme on Technology Enhanced Learning
Posted on 29 Sep, 2010 07:42 AMThis Civil Engineering Course under the National Programme on Technology Enhanced Learning (NPTEL) on the broad subject of Water Resources Engineering and Management is being carried out by Indian Institute of Technology’s and the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore as a collaborative project supported by the Ministry of Human Resource Development (Government of India) to enhance the quality of engineering education in the country, by developing curriculum based video and web courses. In these web based lectures, the authors have developed the subject in detail and in stages in a student-friendly manner. The broad group of Water Resources Engineering is structured into modules on the topic by IIT Kharagpur as follows:
Flooding in Northern India: Updates from Earth Observatory
Posted on 28 Sep, 2010 02:16 PMHeavy monsoon rains had pushed the Ganges and other rivers over their banks by late September 2010. The flooding left at least 2 million people homeless in northern India, Reuters reported. Some 500,000 hectares (1.25 million acres) of agricultural land were also flooded. Authorities reported that the Ganges and its tributaries had risen to near record levels, and meteorologists forecast more rains in the days ahead.
Successful innovations in solid waste management systems: Examples from five local bodies in Tamil Nadu
Posted on 28 Sep, 2010 11:32 AMThis booklet about the work of Exnora Green Pammal (EGP), produced by UNICEF and published by the Government of Tamil Nadu, illustrates examples of the implementation and impact of solid waste management innovations in five localities in Tamil Nadu. The solid waste management systems in these localities are widely regarded as successes that deserve replication.This document has been produced to inspire and enable more local body authorities to emulate such successes in other parts of the country.
Improving solid waste management services in India is an urgent challenge for all levels of the government. Littering and the indiscriminate disposal of solid waste are widely practiced, polluting India's air, water, soil and inhabitants. Such pollution impedes India's efforts to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDG).The nation's measures to combat malaria and other diseases (MDG 6), reduce child mortality (MDG 4), and ensure environmental sustainability (MDG 7) are all hampered by the unsightly and unhygienic conditions created by the accumulation of waste.
Water security vs national security published in Third Concept September 2010 : Countries that share a river face a higher probability of engaging in military disputes
Posted on 28 Sep, 2010 10:15 AMThere has been growing public and policy preoccupation in recent years with potential climate impacts on water security in the wake of the worsening risk of global warming. In 1991, then–UN secretary general Boutros Boutros-Ghali pronounced that “the next war will be fought over water, not politics.” In 2001, Kofi Annan warned that “fierce competition for fresh water may well become a source of conflict and wars in the future.” And present UN secretary general Ban Ki-Moon has argued that the ongoing Darfur crisis grew at least in part from desertification, ecological degradation, and a scarcity of resources, foremost among them water. Apart from this chorus of concern, many policy scholars have asserted that, as population growth and economic development raise pressures on demand and environmental pressures degrade supplies, resource scarcities could precipitate violent international conflicts, with shared rivers an especially dangerous flashpoint.
Case studies on water quality - A presentation by ACWADAM
Posted on 25 Sep, 2010 10:19 AMThis presentation by ACWADAM deals with monitoring of water quality in a watershed. It describes the process of going about conducting a hydrogeological study of the watershed, right from the study of the basic geology to the importance of the quality of groundwater in the watershed. The main hydrogeological provinces of India are described - (a) Hard rock regimes: Crystalline rocks, Volcanic (Deccan basalt), (b) Alluvial regimes, and (c) Consolidated sedimentary regimes: Soft sedimentary, Hard sedimentary.
Aquifers: The hosts of groundwater – A presentation by ACWADAM
Posted on 25 Sep, 2010 08:44 AMThis presentation by ACWADAM on aquifers states that a systematic approach to groundwater studies is required to understand how water exists in each type of rock or sediment for which hydrogeological mapping of aquifers becomes significant in every watershed programme. The necessity of studying the scientific aspects of groundwater such as its properties and distribution below the earth’s surface is highlighted.
The Himalayas – A presentation by ACWADAM
Posted on 24 Sep, 2010 10:38 PMThis presentation by ACWADAM deals with the Himalayan mountain system, the planet's highest, and home to the world's highest peaks. It specifically deals with the various divisions, the kind of structures present and the presence of groundwater in the massive mountain system.
Processes that shape the earth: II – A presentation by ACWADAM
Posted on 24 Sep, 2010 08:14 PMThe presentation deals with weathering, erosion and deposition of rocks -
- The process of breaking down and alteration of rocks and formation of new materials from them is known as weathering of rocks.
- The group of processes whereby the materials of the earth’s crust are moved from one place to another by running water (including rainfall), waves and current, glacier ice and wind is known as erosion.
- The processes whereby the material being carried during the process of erosion is deposited either through physical processes (such as drop in the velocity of flowing water) or precipitation of dissolved material under a set of conditions for instance, the deposition of limestones from water rich in calcium carbonate is known as deposition.
Hydrogeology and sanitation guidelines – A presentation by ACWADAM
Posted on 23 Sep, 2010 11:11 PMThis presentation by ACWADAM deals with hydrogeology and sanitation guidelines. Safe water supply and sanitation choices are an important public health measure and source quality improvement is critical to this. The impact of different aspects of water and sanitation appears to be largely dependent on the conditions within a particular community and existing access to other components of water and sanitation.
The structure of the sub-surface – A presentation by ACWADAM
Posted on 22 Sep, 2010 09:38 PMThis presentation by ACWADAM deals with the structure of the sub-surface. The lithology and structure of rocks together define the geometric framework for the movement of groundwater. To some extent, these factors also govern the movement of surface water too. In other words, the physical environment of rocks and rock material hosts water, and hence, controls its accumulation and flow in the watershed.